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Skills Overview

Specialized AI modules for each development phase.

What Are Skills?

Skills are domain-specific AI modules that Claude automatically loads based on context. Each skill provides deep expertise in a narrow area.

Think of skills as specialized assistants: - The Schema Architect knows everything about database design - The Test Generator knows BDD/Gherkin best practices - The Backend Bootstrapper knows Apso inside and out

Available Skills

Orchestration

Skill Purpose
SaaS Project Orchestrator Coordinates entire SDLC

Planning & Discovery

Skill Purpose
Discovery Interviewer 90-minute requirements extraction
Schema Architect Database and entity design
Product Brief Writer PRD synthesis

Implementation

Skill Purpose
Backend Bootstrapper Apso/NestJS setup
Auth Bootstrapper BetterAuth integration
Feature Builder Full-stack feature implementation

Quality

Skill Purpose
Test Generator BDD/Gherkin test creation

SaaS Capability Coverage

Skills are organized around SaaS capability areas. Each capability progresses from template support to full skill automation.

Capability Current Skill Status
Authentication Auth Bootstrapper Available
Multi-Tenancy Schema Architect Available
Team Management Schema Architect Available
Billing & Payments - Planned
API Keys - Planned
Audit Logging - Planned
Notifications - Roadmap
File Storage - Roadmap

See SaaS Capabilities for the complete capability roadmap.

Planned Skills

We're expanding skill coverage for each SaaS capability:

  • billing-bootstrapper - Stripe integration, subscriptions, checkout
  • api-key-bootstrapper - Key management, rate limiting
  • audit-bootstrapper - Compliance logging, event tracking
  • notification-bootstrapper - Multi-channel notifications
  • storage-bootstrapper - S3/file upload integration

Skill Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│             saas-project-orchestrator (Meta-Skill)           │
│   Coordinates entire SDLC, calls worker skills in sequence   │
└───────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────────────┘
                        │
        ┌───────────────┼───────────────┐
        │               │               │
        ▼               ▼               ▼
┌───────────────┐ ┌───────────────┐ ┌───────────────┐
│   Discovery   │ │    Schema     │ │    Backend    │
│  Interviewer  │ │   Architect   │ │  Bootstrapper │
└───────────────┘ └───────────────┘ └───────────────┘

The orchestrator calls specialized skills in the correct sequence with approval gates between phases.

How Skills Are Loaded

Skills are loaded automatically when:

  1. Trigger phrases match - Your request matches the skill's description
  2. Context suggests - Related files or conversation history
  3. Another skill calls - Orchestration chain

Trigger Examples

You Say Skill Loaded
"Design a database schema" Schema Architect
"Generate tests for this feature" Test Generator
"Setup the backend with auth" Auth Bootstrapper
"I want to build a new SaaS" SaaS Project Orchestrator

Skill File Structure

Each skill lives in .claude/skills/skill-name/:

skill-name/
├── SKILL.md              # Main definition (required)
├── references/           # Supporting documents
│   ├── methodology.md
│   ├── templates/
│   └── examples/
└── README.md             # Human overview (optional)

SKILL.md Structure

---
name: skill-name
description: What this skill does. Triggers when user needs to...
---

# Skill Name

I [what I do in first person].

## What I Create
...

## My Process
1. Step one
2. Step two
...

## Examples
...

Skill Outputs

Each skill produces specific artifacts:

Skill Output Location
Discovery Interviewer features/docs/discovery/
Test Generator features/api/, features/ui/, features/e2e/
Schema Architect backend/.apsorc
Product Brief Writer features/docs/product-requirements.md
Backend Bootstrapper backend/
Auth Bootstrapper backend/src/extensions/auth/
Feature Builder Various (backend + frontend)

Invoking Skills Manually

You can invoke skills directly by describing what you need:

"Use the schema-architect skill to design my database"

"I need the test-generator to create scenarios for user registration"

"Run the auth-bootstrapper to add authentication"

Creating Custom Skills

You can create your own skills:

  1. Create directory: .claude/skills/your-skill/
  2. Create SKILL.md with frontmatter
  3. Add references if needed
  4. Test with trigger phrases

Minimal SKILL.md:

---
name: your-skill
description: Does X when user needs Y.
---

# Your Skill

I help with [specific task].

## What I Do

1. First thing
2. Second thing

## Example

[Example of usage]

Best Practices

When Building Skills

  • Single responsibility - One skill, one domain
  • Clear triggers - Specific description phrases
  • Documented process - Step-by-step instructions
  • Examples included - Show expected inputs/outputs
  • References organized - Supporting docs in references/

When Using Skills

  • Let orchestrator decide - For new projects, use /start-project
  • Be specific - Clear requests get better skill matching
  • Check outputs - Verify artifacts before proceeding
  • Approve gates - Don't skip approval checkpoints